Please Don't Go
by Kat Lee formerly Pirate Turner
Summary: Lorne meets his beautiful, mysterious lady again, many months later, in the City of Love, but will she stay any longer this time than the last? Follows Love and Karoke which follows Musical Bonding.


Title: "Please Don't Go"  
Author: Pirate Turner  
Rating: PG-13  
Summary: Lorne meets his beautiful, mysterious lady again, many months later, in the City of Love, but will she stay any longer this time than the last?  
Disclaimer: Lorne and Angel are © & TM their respective owners, not the author. Crystal Frost, Blue, Elvira, and Cindy are © & TM the author, Pirate Turner, and may not be used without permission. The author makes absolutely no monetary profit off of this work of fan fiction, and no copyright infringement is intended.  
Author's Note: Had I not written this so long ago and only now been getting it betaed, formatted, and all, I would have dedicated this entry to the series to our dearly beloved and, tragically, dearly departed Andy Hallett. May he rest his peace, and may the wonderful character he first breathed life into live forever in the fics and hearts of his fans!!

She sighed as they trod together onto the bridge that cut over the small pond. The park was full of lovers this Spring afternoon, and every couple she saw only served to remind her of what she could never have. Her baby boy cooed softly from where he was perched on top of her slender shoulder, and she reached up and reassuringly scratched the spot between the small spikes on his forehead. He eagerly rubbed his head against her hand for more, and she granted it with a smile.

She reached down with her other hand and stroked the fur of the two females who kept perfect pace beside her. All three were hidden from mortals' sight, and though she received a few curious glances, she ignored them all. She stroked her babies for a moment, then reached into her purse and brought out their old bread. She gave a slice to each of them and watched as they dropped theirs to the swans waiting below before tossing out her own. It sailed through the air and landed beside a small duck who kept all to himself. She smiled sadly as she watched him hungrily devour the bread. They repeated the maneuver several times as they fed the birds, but neither her mind nor her heart were in their activities.

No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't stop her mind from returning to him, the man who, though she had fled from him months ago, continued to haunt her dreams what few times she didn't suffer familiar nightmares. She was more accustomed to seeing his smiling, handsome face in her daydreams for only then did she truly escape her nightmares, but she knew too well that she could never have what she had in those cherished daydreams. She could never have him or friends or any family beyond the three who accompanied her every moment except those few times that it was far too dangerous for even them to be with her. Still, she suspected they often tagged along at a distance, but she could not stop them. No matter how many times she had told them that it would probably be far safer for them to leave her, her babies never would.

Her thoughts were shattered by sudden song rising into the air. She looked swiftly around them, panic touching her ice blue eyes, and her heart leapt into her throat when her eyes fell upon him. "No . . . " she breathed shakily even as Blue jumped, Cindy growled, and Elvira whimpered. "No, this can't be happening!"

Yet he was on the end of the bridge, his hands reaching out for her as he approached at a slow but steady pace. His face was full of anxious hope that she did not want to dash and love that she could not understand. He had only met her twice, and yet here he was again, just as determined to be with her as he had the last time. She had to tell him! she decided. He had to know! Maybe then he would stop following her when fate, for whatever dark and twisted reason, brought them toward each other?

"Tell me! Oh, please, tell me how! Tell me how I'm supposed to live as though I never knew you, as though we never met, as though I never saw your beautiful face or heard the twinkling of your laughter! Better yet, lovely lady, tell me why!" His words did not rhyme, but somehow that did not matter. They flowed off of his tongue like golden honey, caressing her ears and pleading with her heart. His was the most beautiful voice she'd ever heard, and she dared to answer him in turn even while backing up, her eyes never leaving his face or his eyes, which were a bewitching shade of red.

"How can I tell you what no one believes, yet somehow, I have to make you see! It is not my choice not to be with you, for if I had a say in the matter, any real say, I'd gladly choose to spend my time with you!" At her lupine daughter's whimper, Crystal hurriedly added in a slightly quieter tone, "And my babies, of course, who, like I, may never get to know you!"

"But why, oh, why?" he sang pleadingly, his arms and hands open wide. He never missed a beat in his pace, but every step he took, she backed up two. "I would like to get to know your babies, just as I would love to make your acquaintance deeper!"

"But it can not be, though I must admit," she sang, a blush tingeing her fair, white cheeks, "of dreaming of much the same! Yet, alas, over my head rests a bane!"

His red eyes cast nervous glances around. "I see no one!"

"He may not be here yet, but he is always searching, always hunting, and always killing! My name is top of his list, and any who befriend me join me! He will see no more in you than that I know you, and he will shatter you in to a thousand pieces!"

Lorne stopped, his mouth open wide and his eyes even wider. "Sh-Shatter?"

"Yes, shatter, sweet one! That is why I must run and can never stay! I'll never know what twist of fate has brought you here this day, but at least now you know!"

"I know some one who can help!" he cried, throwing out his hands to stop her as she started to turn to run. This time he did not approach any further for he knew that if he did, she would run, and he'd never be able to catch her. She seemed to make an art out of disappearing.

"Ah, but no one can help! Sometimes a brave soul thinks he can, but never can they truly for this foe can not be stopped! He is a monster most wicked but also most powerful! The one thing that keeps us safe is constantly being on the move, so though you've found me here this day, you'll never see me again!"

"Please don't leave!" He half-shouted, half-sang the words, and tears sprang to both their eyes.

"But I must!" she cried in return. "Can you not see?" she sang, holding both hands out, palms turned up. "Can you not see why I can not stay? I can not have your death upon my conscience as well!"

"There are others?"

"None like you! Never like you!" She didn't know why she was so strongly pulled to this incredibly handsome Demon. It felt, somehow, as though their very souls were connected. No matter how hard she'd tried, she had been completely unable to forget him. Now she wanted him worse than she wanted her next breath of oxygen, yet even more, she wanted, and needed, to protect him. She had paused while these thoughts had ran through her brain but now admitted, "There was one, a long time ago, when I was but a child! My best friend, the only one save my cousin who ever dared believe me when I told them of the monster! And he, like all the others who have ever dared befriend me, was shattered! Turned to ice and shattered -- that's what he's done to them all and what he'll do to you, too, if I linger!"

"Please," he cried again, "don't go!"

"I must!"

"Then go but go to Angel Investigations, Los Angeles, California! He can help you!"

"Who is he?"

"Angel," he sang proudly, "the Vampire with a soul!"

Her mouth dropped, and she stared at him.

He grinned. "You've heard of him, of course!"

She turned her head away, shame etching her lovely features. "That was a long time ago, oh, such a long time ago!"

It was his turn to stare at her in surprise as the wheels in his mind spun. She knew Angel? Angel had been unable to help her? What kind of monstrosity must be lurking after this beautiful, sweet, enchanting woman, his woman or, at least, he wished she was? He had so many questions, and yet he knew, no matter what he said, she was going to leave him again, and this time, he'd never find her again. It was a miracle he'd even stumbled across her here in Paris, where one of his clients had run to when things had gotten too tough in LA! He'd come to mend his broken heart, never knowing, or even suspecting, that his own would be broken again in the City of Love.

She forced herself to raise her head once more, and her tear-filled, blue eyes met his watery, red orbs. "Please," she sang, desperate pleading etched in each syllable until the sound of her lovely voice so tortured threatened to break his heart all of its own accord, "please try to understand, try to find it, in your heart somewhere, to forgive and forget! Please trust on me this, Lorne: you do not want to know me!"

"No matter where you run," he hurried before she could flee, "I'll never forget you, Crystal, and always cherish our short times together! And I'll never," he added after a moment's hesitation as he knew his next words would make her run even harder and further from him, "stop trying to find you!"

"Please do," she begged, "if not for your own sake, then for me! I can not live with another death on my conscience!"

The entire time they had been singing to each other, they had ignored all the other people in the park. The humans' screams had fallen on deaf ears, and all the world around them had ceased to exist as, for a few short moments, they concentrated entirely on one another. Ice had also been growing underneath Crystal's and her babies' feet the entire while, and now, at her quiet urging, Blue dropped the shields he almost always carried over his sisters and himself.

Lorne's mouth fell open as he saw the lioness and wolf who flanked Crystal and the blue dragon who perched on top of her shoulder. He stared, rubbed his eyes, and stared again, then his green jaw fell even further as the tiny family soared up into the air, carried swiftly away by a sparkling ice disc that stretched to a safe space underneath their feet and paws. He shook his head slowly in amazement that continued to grow as a soft snow began to fall.

He touched his wet cheek where a snowflake had dropped onto him and stared at the white snow on his green fingertips in astonishment. Then it hit him. She was an Ice Elemental, and she knew Angel! Suddenly Lorne couldn't wait for his "vacation" to be over!

Marvellment shone in his red eyes as he turned after her and shouted, "I'LL FIND YOU! I PROMISE YOU, CRYSTAL, WHEREVER YOU RUN, ONE DAY, I'LL FIND YOU AND I'LL HELP YOU!" {_We'll_ help you,} he amended silently when she didn't turn back around. He watched until she faded from sight, then resumed his walk, whistling as he did so. He knew he had a long wait ahead of him, but he also knew that she would be worth every moment.

**The End**


End file.
